The chatbox has been hidden for this page. It will reopen upon refresh. To hide the CBox permanently, select "Permanently Toggle Cbox" in your profile User Settings.
This chatbox is hidden. To reopen, edit your User Settings.
Hey everyone! Apologies for my absence and hello from the other side! Whilst real-life issues kept me away from Aeipathy for a time, I was able to arrange time off work and other shenanigans to dedicate the last week to Aeipathy updates, thereby allowing me to come back to the site with a big ol' sack of presents! You may have noticed some changes here and there on the site and server so this is an update that will list them out in their entirety, keeping everything transparent and clear. If you have any concerns or worries regarding the below changes, please just contact a member of the staff team and we'll be happy to help.
Discord Server
Some of our updates have been on our Discord server. These have been put in place to refresh and revitalize the communal chatting space and to help progress the storyline of the site. You'll be seeing some of the following changes happening over the next 48 hours...
Idea Adoption Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The #idea-adoption channel and the #member-suggestions channel is being merged into one. Called the #creative-inspiration. This is where members can throw out ideas for events or global storylines (hence the suggestions bit) or staffers can throw out match makings, ideas, aesthetic images to help with the muse. Anyone can literally post anything here based on what they want to see or hear out in the IC world of Aeipathy.
Channel Move Around Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. There has already been a slight tidy up and shift around of some of the channels for ease of reading. This should help keep things a little more organised.
Notice Board Channel Community Feedback: There's always lots going on and I don't always know what is currently happening. In the near future, a notice-board channel will be being put into place at the top of the server. This will list all ever-green/current information. So, for example, we always have a 'latest' weekly broadcast. We always have a member-challenge currently on-going. We always have a Mediator on call (see updates below). And we will shortly always have a Character Spotlight in play and a Monthly event on-going. This noticeboard will give you all the necessary links to te right information for each of these things, giving you a one-glance pit-stop for all things OOC. Effectively like a #quick-reference channel for the OOC side of Aeipathy.
Discord Games Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. Our discord games channels keep us entertained when waiting for our next IC posts or just plain help us to bond as a community. As such, we're definitely keeping this feature but limiting the channels to only three at a time. Each time a new game is introduced, the eldest or least active one is going to go, keeping things fresh and fun and not always waiting for boredom to set in before we bring out something new.
Graphics Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The graphics channel will be being removed. All of the resources in it will be kept and put into #writing-resources so the links and useful information is still there but the channel is not taking up space as it's not proved to be as high a traffic location as others. Looks like people tend to use the character-help channel instead, so we're running with that :)
Ever Green Time-Jump Poll Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement One of the more significant updates coming to the Discord server is the Ever-Green Time-Jump poll. This will be found in the notice-board channel. In short, it works like this...
When your character is in a position (storyline wise) where jumping forward in time by a 4-8 weeks will not be an issue for them, you simply 'react' to the poll to say so. This doesn't have to mean you are entirely done with your threads. But, basically, that a time jump would not currently screw your IC story up. You can 'react' like this at any time. When over 70% of our Writer community have marked the poll, we will time-jump: the next Events launched will be between 4-8 Weeks in the future, making our timeline move forward. Until we have that 70%, we will not time-jump but continue to move forwards at a slow but steady pace. This means that we will only ever jump when it is wanted. Members are not left behind, faster-writers are given actual evidence to suggest when and how time-jumping would be a good idea. It also allows us a mathematical list of those who are ready and those who are not which means we can contact those who may be bored prior to jumps and offer them more plotting and we can contact those who did not mark themselves ready after the fact to make sure they are not entirely left behind. When the time-jump has happened, the 'reactions' are removed and the process begins again. We hope that this will be a useful and effective tool to keep everyone happy with the pace of story, here on Aeipathy. This will be launched in our next Weekly-Broadcast on the 27th September.
Site Edits Edit Profile Page Community Feedback: The edit page for the profile is confusing. One of our biggest overhauls over the last week on the site is our Edit Profile page. This page now contains: full instructions on how to complete the app. Marks on which elements are required and which are not. Images and Gifs illustrating where the information will go and how the app will look when completed. Iconned links to outside resources that have been suggested by our community and taken from our #writing-resources page to help you with certain steps of the process. There is also now a sidebar with clear information regarding the norms of the kingdoms from character appearance and height to the kind of money they use and a glossary of key terms so you can use them in your writing.
Profile Pages Community Feedback: Not all of the profile information shows on the main profile page. Your profile pages now contain full information of Military Service and Slavery records, as well as political seats held and the kingdoms in which your character has access to roleplay. These can all be found in your character's history page, above their biography. You can also find a fully edited sub-title beneath all character names, with full barony, miliitary positions also listed. Character quotes are now viewable beneath the main shields and your seeking plots ads can now be seen under the Writer tab in their own classified ads style. The entire code of the profile pages has had to be reworked to work around the limitations of the HTML conditions but I'd like to think it was worth it!
Thread Trackers Community Feedback: When will these be working? Our external coder has been reached out to regarding our thread trackers so that we can get these up and working as soon as possible. This includes the thread trackers in our NPC pages which (when working) will link to every thread previous writers have made for that character that are still in-canon, allowing them to be fully aware of what is happening around the character they are claiming.
NPC Pages You will now notice that any tagged links on the profile pages automatically link to the NPC pages of those characters. This code works off of our Compendium which we are working to complete and currently have set to default ((this means that all tags link to NPC pages for the canons and wanted characters in question)). As soon as the Compendium is updated with the claimed characters' information, these links will *automatically* shift back and forth between an accepted character's profile and an unclaimed NPC page in our Compendium. They will never need to be edited at the removal or acceptance of a character. You will notice these same tag links in the NPC pages themselves, redirecting you to family members and characters with plot connections.
Character Compendium Community Feedback: When will this be up and running? Our Compendium has been reset to default so that we can make it more editable and workable long-term. Please don't be alarmed if you use it and cannot find the character you are looking for. This will be finalised shortly and given its own announcement. We are super excited for a new feature we're adding to it that will actually allow newcomers to move through a questionnaire process and be given suggestions for wanted characters that fit their preferred criteria. It just takes time to build this and set it up in a way that is manageable in the future.
The Encyclopaedia Community Feedback: The images in the discord server are helpful - can we have them in the encyclopaedia? Images of the clothing worn by the Greeks has been added to the Everyday Life page of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What are the different types of slave? Information on Slavery has been added to both the Greece and Africa pages of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What should my character address someone else as? A table with the Terms of Address has been added to the Everyday Life pages of the Encyclopaedia.
IC Events and Stories Event Updates Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement In the #roleplay-tags channel on Discord you will soon see a large announcement regarding current IC Events. Some will be closing, others will be open to your decision for archiving via poll. Some will be given a new lease of life. We will also be having a brand new event released in each of the three Grecian kingdoms over the next three weeks.
New Global Plots Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement You will soon see some announcements in the new #creative-inspiration channel regarding characters and plotlines that are being introduced to the Grecian realm. One per kingdom: political, economic and natural. Each one is a disaster in the making ready to come and hit Greece for all she's worth. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a new writing challenge or wanting to see a particular kingdom move forward should really take a looksie and see how they can get stuck in. Buckle up, guys! All new information and a small time hop (just of a month or two) will be a part of this new global plot, so that we can recharge fresh and unhindered.
Factions: The Tempest of Set Whilst our African realm is not yet opened all information regarding the Tempest of Set has been updated and wanted ads confirmed meaning that, when it does, we'll have a ready made Faction for people to claim a part of, if they wish to.
Factions: The Sariqas Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement The Sariqas are returning and are ready to reek havoc! Rather than post all the old wanted ads, however, this is a small and tight knit group that should really be grown organically. If anyone is interested in creating a middle-eastern originating mercenary, please get in touch with Ivy our IC Deputy. She'll be able to direct you to the appropriate place!
Future Timeline
Given our recent updates and the newest features we've put in place, plus the progress that has been made on the Compendium, we can confirm the following dates:
Today - 24th September: You will likely be seeing the above mentioned edits happening around the site and server. 24th September: Staff Apps close and new Staffers announced. 3rd October Character Compendium will be completed. 11th October: Advertising for Aeipathy will open. 16th October: Halloween Event will launch. 31st October: Halloween Event will close. 1st November NaNoWriMo Event will launch.
The Staff Team
One of the changes we have undergone in the last week is a few shifts in our Staff Team line-up. This includes some leavetakings, promotions and new vacancies we are now advertising to the community. Here are the full deets:
Loreist, Dragon Community Feedback: General Confusion Our Loreist has decided to leave the staff team. His resignation was his choice and we had every hope that Dragon would continue to remain on the site as a writer. He decided that it wasn't for him, and has since departed. Unfortunately, this was unable to be entirely drama free. Whilst I never normally discuss staffer departures because it feels like talking behind someone's back, Dragon has left a lot of confusion, worry and upset in his wake so it's important to explain these basic facts. Dragon was neither told to drop his staff role, nor was he asked to leave the site. Both were his choice. After making those decisions, he remained on the server and he was not removed in the hopes that he would become a Reader and remain a part of our community even without staffing or writing. Upon discovering that he had been slandering Aeipathy to Newcomers and attempting to turn them away to other forums, the removal of his account from the Discord server was an unfortunate necessity. This was the only point in the proceedings that was undertaken without Dragon's consent and the staff team did this only after we had sent him a DM explaining why so that the server would not disappear from his list out of the blue. This message was polite and final and explained that we had no choice but to remove him from the server. If anyone has conflicting information with this, it is your choice to follow what you believe to be true. These are the facts as they stand. Despite having screenshot evidence of all of these steps of the process, I will not be sharing them as it is against the privacy of Dragon and other members to post them around. I will, however, be willing to sit down with anyone who is still concerned and talk the matter through with them in an objective manner, focused on how we can encourage new engagement and motivation in the site. Many thanks to those who have been patient through these difficulties.
Internal Moderator, Ivy Community Feedback: General Confusion On to something with more cheer - the wonderful Ivy is back on our server! A few weeks ago, Ivy was forced to take a short break, concerned for the health of a family member. Our prayers and good thoughts were with her in this time and I am happy to report that she now feels in a position to return to the server and her role on the Staff Team. This is wonderful news both for Aeipathy and for Ivy and her loved ones. I understand that the reappointment of Ivy's staffer role was confusing to some. My apologies for this uncertainty. As I was not active on the server whilst Ivy had to take her time away, I was not aware that everyone believed she had left permanently. This was never the case. Had I been aware that this was the general consensus, I would have explained the sudden allocating of a staffer role (apparently) willy-nilly. I'm glad to say, however, that this is not how our staff team operate. We go through channels, plans and talks when it comes to our Staff Team (as you'll see below) and from our perspective, Ivy was simply being reallocated what was always hers. We hope this explains things.
Co-Deputies Staffer Request At the behest of the staff team who have been doing an amazing job at keeping Aeipathy running over these past weeks, two Co-Deputy's have been assigned to the staff team. These guys are in charge of Aeipathy as and when I am away or unavailable (which hopefully should not be happening any time in the future) but they are also a port of call for escalated issues, event ideas or larger-site planning, so that not everything rests at my doorstep. This should make things happen smoother, faster, with no bottle-neck and no waiting on the GMT timezone. XD Based on past staffer performance and suitability for the role, Athene and the newly returned Ivy (now that her personal difficulties have passed) have been chosen for these roles. Each comes with their own skills, traits and time to dedicate to the roles and help to give the Staff Team more security and confidence when operating across the server and site. Please help me in welcoming Ivy and Athene to their new posts!
Staffer Handbook Staffer Request To encourage this feeling of authonomy away from myself, this week has also seen the birth of a Staffer Handbook. This is a long (a very long XD) document listing every single task I perform (when present) to keep Aeipathy running. This includes internal tasks, community duties and the process of advertising (yes, I'm getting to that! XD). This means that our staff team can operate outside of any authority from myself, with clear instructions on the 'how' and that our staff team can grow as our community does without excessive training or steep learning curves. In truth, this handbook is currently only partially finished (it's a very long document!!) but as I complete the instructions for each task, you'll see new features, games, events and general activity being announced by our staff team. So, keep a watchful eye and get ready to have some old school Aeipathy fun!
New Staffer Server For those who don't know, the Staff Team on Aeipathy have a server dedicated to the staff team only. This is not in order for us to find a quiet space to sip martinis and grumble but a hub of tools and resources so that our Staff Team have access to Mentor information, who is roleplaying who, any disputes or mediation issues that need to be handled, game and event ideas etc etc. We keep them on a separate server to save having a dozen hidden channels on the main server. Our scrolling fingers get tired! XD This week, with the new Staffer Handbook and in an effort for even more transparency between the staffers, we have built a new server with very specific record-keeping features and project details so that all Staffers will be informed of all Staff Team matters in the future. There will be no miscommunication, accidental-ignorance or different staffers being kept out of the loop at different times because of timezones or personal schedules. This will allow everyone to be informed, no matter their routine.
New Staff Vacancies Staffer Request As promised above, we have several new staffer positions now open. We are looking for:
The TownCryer - Advertising Moderator Duties included but not limited to: bumping daily advertisements on other forums, replying to Seeking messages on resource sites, managing Aeipathy's entries into off-site contests. Skills Required: The availability to do a little every single day instead of a lot in one go. Non-combative and friendly manner of communication. The ability to perform the same task over and over and find it cathartic rather than boring.
The Hearsay - Current Plot/Gossip Moderator Duties included but not limited to: boosting motivation and plotlines across the server. Match-making characters and plots. Keeping the community update with Gossip Blasts across our servers plotting pages. Skills Required: Endless enthusiasm (or the ability to fake it ^_^). And interest in reading up on other people's threads that you are not a part of. Good memory of the plotlines happening all over the site.
The Curator - Pinterest Moderator Duties included but not limited to: The organisation of our Pinterest page. Regular updates when characters are added or removed. The running of Pinterest Contests bi-monthly. Skills Required; OCD-level attention to detail. A knowledge/love of Pinterest. Basic graphics skills.
Mentors Duties included but not limited to: Welcoming newcomers to the server. DMing them and building a personal relationship with new members. Making regular reports on progress of helping those members to our Head Mentor. Skills Required: Friendly demeanour. Endless patience for repeated questions and offered resources. Objective ability to suggest characters based on newcomer preference, not existing member preference.
If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above roles, please DM me (JD) directly.
JD
Staff Team
JD
Staff Team
This post was created by our staff team.
Please contact us with your queries and questions.
Hey everyone! Apologies for my absence and hello from the other side! Whilst real-life issues kept me away from Aeipathy for a time, I was able to arrange time off work and other shenanigans to dedicate the last week to Aeipathy updates, thereby allowing me to come back to the site with a big ol' sack of presents! You may have noticed some changes here and there on the site and server so this is an update that will list them out in their entirety, keeping everything transparent and clear. If you have any concerns or worries regarding the below changes, please just contact a member of the staff team and we'll be happy to help.
Discord Server
Some of our updates have been on our Discord server. These have been put in place to refresh and revitalize the communal chatting space and to help progress the storyline of the site. You'll be seeing some of the following changes happening over the next 48 hours...
Idea Adoption Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The #idea-adoption channel and the #member-suggestions channel is being merged into one. Called the #creative-inspiration. This is where members can throw out ideas for events or global storylines (hence the suggestions bit) or staffers can throw out match makings, ideas, aesthetic images to help with the muse. Anyone can literally post anything here based on what they want to see or hear out in the IC world of Aeipathy.
Channel Move Around Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. There has already been a slight tidy up and shift around of some of the channels for ease of reading. This should help keep things a little more organised.
Notice Board Channel Community Feedback: There's always lots going on and I don't always know what is currently happening. In the near future, a notice-board channel will be being put into place at the top of the server. This will list all ever-green/current information. So, for example, we always have a 'latest' weekly broadcast. We always have a member-challenge currently on-going. We always have a Mediator on call (see updates below). And we will shortly always have a Character Spotlight in play and a Monthly event on-going. This noticeboard will give you all the necessary links to te right information for each of these things, giving you a one-glance pit-stop for all things OOC. Effectively like a #quick-reference channel for the OOC side of Aeipathy.
Discord Games Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. Our discord games channels keep us entertained when waiting for our next IC posts or just plain help us to bond as a community. As such, we're definitely keeping this feature but limiting the channels to only three at a time. Each time a new game is introduced, the eldest or least active one is going to go, keeping things fresh and fun and not always waiting for boredom to set in before we bring out something new.
Graphics Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The graphics channel will be being removed. All of the resources in it will be kept and put into #writing-resources so the links and useful information is still there but the channel is not taking up space as it's not proved to be as high a traffic location as others. Looks like people tend to use the character-help channel instead, so we're running with that :)
Ever Green Time-Jump Poll Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement One of the more significant updates coming to the Discord server is the Ever-Green Time-Jump poll. This will be found in the notice-board channel. In short, it works like this...
When your character is in a position (storyline wise) where jumping forward in time by a 4-8 weeks will not be an issue for them, you simply 'react' to the poll to say so. This doesn't have to mean you are entirely done with your threads. But, basically, that a time jump would not currently screw your IC story up. You can 'react' like this at any time. When over 70% of our Writer community have marked the poll, we will time-jump: the next Events launched will be between 4-8 Weeks in the future, making our timeline move forward. Until we have that 70%, we will not time-jump but continue to move forwards at a slow but steady pace. This means that we will only ever jump when it is wanted. Members are not left behind, faster-writers are given actual evidence to suggest when and how time-jumping would be a good idea. It also allows us a mathematical list of those who are ready and those who are not which means we can contact those who may be bored prior to jumps and offer them more plotting and we can contact those who did not mark themselves ready after the fact to make sure they are not entirely left behind. When the time-jump has happened, the 'reactions' are removed and the process begins again. We hope that this will be a useful and effective tool to keep everyone happy with the pace of story, here on Aeipathy. This will be launched in our next Weekly-Broadcast on the 27th September.
Site Edits Edit Profile Page Community Feedback: The edit page for the profile is confusing. One of our biggest overhauls over the last week on the site is our Edit Profile page. This page now contains: full instructions on how to complete the app. Marks on which elements are required and which are not. Images and Gifs illustrating where the information will go and how the app will look when completed. Iconned links to outside resources that have been suggested by our community and taken from our #writing-resources page to help you with certain steps of the process. There is also now a sidebar with clear information regarding the norms of the kingdoms from character appearance and height to the kind of money they use and a glossary of key terms so you can use them in your writing.
Profile Pages Community Feedback: Not all of the profile information shows on the main profile page. Your profile pages now contain full information of Military Service and Slavery records, as well as political seats held and the kingdoms in which your character has access to roleplay. These can all be found in your character's history page, above their biography. You can also find a fully edited sub-title beneath all character names, with full barony, miliitary positions also listed. Character quotes are now viewable beneath the main shields and your seeking plots ads can now be seen under the Writer tab in their own classified ads style. The entire code of the profile pages has had to be reworked to work around the limitations of the HTML conditions but I'd like to think it was worth it!
Thread Trackers Community Feedback: When will these be working? Our external coder has been reached out to regarding our thread trackers so that we can get these up and working as soon as possible. This includes the thread trackers in our NPC pages which (when working) will link to every thread previous writers have made for that character that are still in-canon, allowing them to be fully aware of what is happening around the character they are claiming.
NPC Pages You will now notice that any tagged links on the profile pages automatically link to the NPC pages of those characters. This code works off of our Compendium which we are working to complete and currently have set to default ((this means that all tags link to NPC pages for the canons and wanted characters in question)). As soon as the Compendium is updated with the claimed characters' information, these links will *automatically* shift back and forth between an accepted character's profile and an unclaimed NPC page in our Compendium. They will never need to be edited at the removal or acceptance of a character. You will notice these same tag links in the NPC pages themselves, redirecting you to family members and characters with plot connections.
Character Compendium Community Feedback: When will this be up and running? Our Compendium has been reset to default so that we can make it more editable and workable long-term. Please don't be alarmed if you use it and cannot find the character you are looking for. This will be finalised shortly and given its own announcement. We are super excited for a new feature we're adding to it that will actually allow newcomers to move through a questionnaire process and be given suggestions for wanted characters that fit their preferred criteria. It just takes time to build this and set it up in a way that is manageable in the future.
The Encyclopaedia Community Feedback: The images in the discord server are helpful - can we have them in the encyclopaedia? Images of the clothing worn by the Greeks has been added to the Everyday Life page of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What are the different types of slave? Information on Slavery has been added to both the Greece and Africa pages of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What should my character address someone else as? A table with the Terms of Address has been added to the Everyday Life pages of the Encyclopaedia.
IC Events and Stories Event Updates Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement In the #roleplay-tags channel on Discord you will soon see a large announcement regarding current IC Events. Some will be closing, others will be open to your decision for archiving via poll. Some will be given a new lease of life. We will also be having a brand new event released in each of the three Grecian kingdoms over the next three weeks.
New Global Plots Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement You will soon see some announcements in the new #creative-inspiration channel regarding characters and plotlines that are being introduced to the Grecian realm. One per kingdom: political, economic and natural. Each one is a disaster in the making ready to come and hit Greece for all she's worth. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a new writing challenge or wanting to see a particular kingdom move forward should really take a looksie and see how they can get stuck in. Buckle up, guys! All new information and a small time hop (just of a month or two) will be a part of this new global plot, so that we can recharge fresh and unhindered.
Factions: The Tempest of Set Whilst our African realm is not yet opened all information regarding the Tempest of Set has been updated and wanted ads confirmed meaning that, when it does, we'll have a ready made Faction for people to claim a part of, if they wish to.
Factions: The Sariqas Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement The Sariqas are returning and are ready to reek havoc! Rather than post all the old wanted ads, however, this is a small and tight knit group that should really be grown organically. If anyone is interested in creating a middle-eastern originating mercenary, please get in touch with Ivy our IC Deputy. She'll be able to direct you to the appropriate place!
Future Timeline
Given our recent updates and the newest features we've put in place, plus the progress that has been made on the Compendium, we can confirm the following dates:
Today - 24th September: You will likely be seeing the above mentioned edits happening around the site and server. 24th September: Staff Apps close and new Staffers announced. 3rd October Character Compendium will be completed. 11th October: Advertising for Aeipathy will open. 16th October: Halloween Event will launch. 31st October: Halloween Event will close. 1st November NaNoWriMo Event will launch.
The Staff Team
One of the changes we have undergone in the last week is a few shifts in our Staff Team line-up. This includes some leavetakings, promotions and new vacancies we are now advertising to the community. Here are the full deets:
Loreist, Dragon Community Feedback: General Confusion Our Loreist has decided to leave the staff team. His resignation was his choice and we had every hope that Dragon would continue to remain on the site as a writer. He decided that it wasn't for him, and has since departed. Unfortunately, this was unable to be entirely drama free. Whilst I never normally discuss staffer departures because it feels like talking behind someone's back, Dragon has left a lot of confusion, worry and upset in his wake so it's important to explain these basic facts. Dragon was neither told to drop his staff role, nor was he asked to leave the site. Both were his choice. After making those decisions, he remained on the server and he was not removed in the hopes that he would become a Reader and remain a part of our community even without staffing or writing. Upon discovering that he had been slandering Aeipathy to Newcomers and attempting to turn them away to other forums, the removal of his account from the Discord server was an unfortunate necessity. This was the only point in the proceedings that was undertaken without Dragon's consent and the staff team did this only after we had sent him a DM explaining why so that the server would not disappear from his list out of the blue. This message was polite and final and explained that we had no choice but to remove him from the server. If anyone has conflicting information with this, it is your choice to follow what you believe to be true. These are the facts as they stand. Despite having screenshot evidence of all of these steps of the process, I will not be sharing them as it is against the privacy of Dragon and other members to post them around. I will, however, be willing to sit down with anyone who is still concerned and talk the matter through with them in an objective manner, focused on how we can encourage new engagement and motivation in the site. Many thanks to those who have been patient through these difficulties.
Internal Moderator, Ivy Community Feedback: General Confusion On to something with more cheer - the wonderful Ivy is back on our server! A few weeks ago, Ivy was forced to take a short break, concerned for the health of a family member. Our prayers and good thoughts were with her in this time and I am happy to report that she now feels in a position to return to the server and her role on the Staff Team. This is wonderful news both for Aeipathy and for Ivy and her loved ones. I understand that the reappointment of Ivy's staffer role was confusing to some. My apologies for this uncertainty. As I was not active on the server whilst Ivy had to take her time away, I was not aware that everyone believed she had left permanently. This was never the case. Had I been aware that this was the general consensus, I would have explained the sudden allocating of a staffer role (apparently) willy-nilly. I'm glad to say, however, that this is not how our staff team operate. We go through channels, plans and talks when it comes to our Staff Team (as you'll see below) and from our perspective, Ivy was simply being reallocated what was always hers. We hope this explains things.
Co-Deputies Staffer Request At the behest of the staff team who have been doing an amazing job at keeping Aeipathy running over these past weeks, two Co-Deputy's have been assigned to the staff team. These guys are in charge of Aeipathy as and when I am away or unavailable (which hopefully should not be happening any time in the future) but they are also a port of call for escalated issues, event ideas or larger-site planning, so that not everything rests at my doorstep. This should make things happen smoother, faster, with no bottle-neck and no waiting on the GMT timezone. XD Based on past staffer performance and suitability for the role, Athene and the newly returned Ivy (now that her personal difficulties have passed) have been chosen for these roles. Each comes with their own skills, traits and time to dedicate to the roles and help to give the Staff Team more security and confidence when operating across the server and site. Please help me in welcoming Ivy and Athene to their new posts!
Staffer Handbook Staffer Request To encourage this feeling of authonomy away from myself, this week has also seen the birth of a Staffer Handbook. This is a long (a very long XD) document listing every single task I perform (when present) to keep Aeipathy running. This includes internal tasks, community duties and the process of advertising (yes, I'm getting to that! XD). This means that our staff team can operate outside of any authority from myself, with clear instructions on the 'how' and that our staff team can grow as our community does without excessive training or steep learning curves. In truth, this handbook is currently only partially finished (it's a very long document!!) but as I complete the instructions for each task, you'll see new features, games, events and general activity being announced by our staff team. So, keep a watchful eye and get ready to have some old school Aeipathy fun!
New Staffer Server For those who don't know, the Staff Team on Aeipathy have a server dedicated to the staff team only. This is not in order for us to find a quiet space to sip martinis and grumble but a hub of tools and resources so that our Staff Team have access to Mentor information, who is roleplaying who, any disputes or mediation issues that need to be handled, game and event ideas etc etc. We keep them on a separate server to save having a dozen hidden channels on the main server. Our scrolling fingers get tired! XD This week, with the new Staffer Handbook and in an effort for even more transparency between the staffers, we have built a new server with very specific record-keeping features and project details so that all Staffers will be informed of all Staff Team matters in the future. There will be no miscommunication, accidental-ignorance or different staffers being kept out of the loop at different times because of timezones or personal schedules. This will allow everyone to be informed, no matter their routine.
New Staff Vacancies Staffer Request As promised above, we have several new staffer positions now open. We are looking for:
The TownCryer - Advertising Moderator Duties included but not limited to: bumping daily advertisements on other forums, replying to Seeking messages on resource sites, managing Aeipathy's entries into off-site contests. Skills Required: The availability to do a little every single day instead of a lot in one go. Non-combative and friendly manner of communication. The ability to perform the same task over and over and find it cathartic rather than boring.
The Hearsay - Current Plot/Gossip Moderator Duties included but not limited to: boosting motivation and plotlines across the server. Match-making characters and plots. Keeping the community update with Gossip Blasts across our servers plotting pages. Skills Required: Endless enthusiasm (or the ability to fake it ^_^). And interest in reading up on other people's threads that you are not a part of. Good memory of the plotlines happening all over the site.
The Curator - Pinterest Moderator Duties included but not limited to: The organisation of our Pinterest page. Regular updates when characters are added or removed. The running of Pinterest Contests bi-monthly. Skills Required; OCD-level attention to detail. A knowledge/love of Pinterest. Basic graphics skills.
Mentors Duties included but not limited to: Welcoming newcomers to the server. DMing them and building a personal relationship with new members. Making regular reports on progress of helping those members to our Head Mentor. Skills Required: Friendly demeanour. Endless patience for repeated questions and offered resources. Objective ability to suggest characters based on newcomer preference, not existing member preference.
If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above roles, please DM me (JD) directly.
Site Updates Patch Notes 02.07
Hey everyone! Apologies for my absence and hello from the other side! Whilst real-life issues kept me away from Aeipathy for a time, I was able to arrange time off work and other shenanigans to dedicate the last week to Aeipathy updates, thereby allowing me to come back to the site with a big ol' sack of presents! You may have noticed some changes here and there on the site and server so this is an update that will list them out in their entirety, keeping everything transparent and clear. If you have any concerns or worries regarding the below changes, please just contact a member of the staff team and we'll be happy to help.
Discord Server
Some of our updates have been on our Discord server. These have been put in place to refresh and revitalize the communal chatting space and to help progress the storyline of the site. You'll be seeing some of the following changes happening over the next 48 hours...
Idea Adoption Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The #idea-adoption channel and the #member-suggestions channel is being merged into one. Called the #creative-inspiration. This is where members can throw out ideas for events or global storylines (hence the suggestions bit) or staffers can throw out match makings, ideas, aesthetic images to help with the muse. Anyone can literally post anything here based on what they want to see or hear out in the IC world of Aeipathy.
Channel Move Around Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. There has already been a slight tidy up and shift around of some of the channels for ease of reading. This should help keep things a little more organised.
Notice Board Channel Community Feedback: There's always lots going on and I don't always know what is currently happening. In the near future, a notice-board channel will be being put into place at the top of the server. This will list all ever-green/current information. So, for example, we always have a 'latest' weekly broadcast. We always have a member-challenge currently on-going. We always have a Mediator on call (see updates below). And we will shortly always have a Character Spotlight in play and a Monthly event on-going. This noticeboard will give you all the necessary links to te right information for each of these things, giving you a one-glance pit-stop for all things OOC. Effectively like a #quick-reference channel for the OOC side of Aeipathy.
Discord Games Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. Our discord games channels keep us entertained when waiting for our next IC posts or just plain help us to bond as a community. As such, we're definitely keeping this feature but limiting the channels to only three at a time. Each time a new game is introduced, the eldest or least active one is going to go, keeping things fresh and fun and not always waiting for boredom to set in before we bring out something new.
Graphics Channel Community Feedback: The server is cluttered, with too many channels. The graphics channel will be being removed. All of the resources in it will be kept and put into #writing-resources so the links and useful information is still there but the channel is not taking up space as it's not proved to be as high a traffic location as others. Looks like people tend to use the character-help channel instead, so we're running with that :)
Ever Green Time-Jump Poll Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement One of the more significant updates coming to the Discord server is the Ever-Green Time-Jump poll. This will be found in the notice-board channel. In short, it works like this...
When your character is in a position (storyline wise) where jumping forward in time by a 4-8 weeks will not be an issue for them, you simply 'react' to the poll to say so. This doesn't have to mean you are entirely done with your threads. But, basically, that a time jump would not currently screw your IC story up. You can 'react' like this at any time. When over 70% of our Writer community have marked the poll, we will time-jump: the next Events launched will be between 4-8 Weeks in the future, making our timeline move forward. Until we have that 70%, we will not time-jump but continue to move forwards at a slow but steady pace. This means that we will only ever jump when it is wanted. Members are not left behind, faster-writers are given actual evidence to suggest when and how time-jumping would be a good idea. It also allows us a mathematical list of those who are ready and those who are not which means we can contact those who may be bored prior to jumps and offer them more plotting and we can contact those who did not mark themselves ready after the fact to make sure they are not entirely left behind. When the time-jump has happened, the 'reactions' are removed and the process begins again. We hope that this will be a useful and effective tool to keep everyone happy with the pace of story, here on Aeipathy. This will be launched in our next Weekly-Broadcast on the 27th September.
Site Edits Edit Profile Page Community Feedback: The edit page for the profile is confusing. One of our biggest overhauls over the last week on the site is our Edit Profile page. This page now contains: full instructions on how to complete the app. Marks on which elements are required and which are not. Images and Gifs illustrating where the information will go and how the app will look when completed. Iconned links to outside resources that have been suggested by our community and taken from our #writing-resources page to help you with certain steps of the process. There is also now a sidebar with clear information regarding the norms of the kingdoms from character appearance and height to the kind of money they use and a glossary of key terms so you can use them in your writing.
Profile Pages Community Feedback: Not all of the profile information shows on the main profile page. Your profile pages now contain full information of Military Service and Slavery records, as well as political seats held and the kingdoms in which your character has access to roleplay. These can all be found in your character's history page, above their biography. You can also find a fully edited sub-title beneath all character names, with full barony, miliitary positions also listed. Character quotes are now viewable beneath the main shields and your seeking plots ads can now be seen under the Writer tab in their own classified ads style. The entire code of the profile pages has had to be reworked to work around the limitations of the HTML conditions but I'd like to think it was worth it!
Thread Trackers Community Feedback: When will these be working? Our external coder has been reached out to regarding our thread trackers so that we can get these up and working as soon as possible. This includes the thread trackers in our NPC pages which (when working) will link to every thread previous writers have made for that character that are still in-canon, allowing them to be fully aware of what is happening around the character they are claiming.
NPC Pages You will now notice that any tagged links on the profile pages automatically link to the NPC pages of those characters. This code works off of our Compendium which we are working to complete and currently have set to default ((this means that all tags link to NPC pages for the canons and wanted characters in question)). As soon as the Compendium is updated with the claimed characters' information, these links will *automatically* shift back and forth between an accepted character's profile and an unclaimed NPC page in our Compendium. They will never need to be edited at the removal or acceptance of a character. You will notice these same tag links in the NPC pages themselves, redirecting you to family members and characters with plot connections.
Character Compendium Community Feedback: When will this be up and running? Our Compendium has been reset to default so that we can make it more editable and workable long-term. Please don't be alarmed if you use it and cannot find the character you are looking for. This will be finalised shortly and given its own announcement. We are super excited for a new feature we're adding to it that will actually allow newcomers to move through a questionnaire process and be given suggestions for wanted characters that fit their preferred criteria. It just takes time to build this and set it up in a way that is manageable in the future.
The Encyclopaedia Community Feedback: The images in the discord server are helpful - can we have them in the encyclopaedia? Images of the clothing worn by the Greeks has been added to the Everyday Life page of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What are the different types of slave? Information on Slavery has been added to both the Greece and Africa pages of the Encyclopaedia. Community Feedback: What should my character address someone else as? A table with the Terms of Address has been added to the Everyday Life pages of the Encyclopaedia.
IC Events and Stories Event Updates Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement In the #roleplay-tags channel on Discord you will soon see a large announcement regarding current IC Events. Some will be closing, others will be open to your decision for archiving via poll. Some will be given a new lease of life. We will also be having a brand new event released in each of the three Grecian kingdoms over the next three weeks.
New Global Plots Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement You will soon see some announcements in the new #creative-inspiration channel regarding characters and plotlines that are being introduced to the Grecian realm. One per kingdom: political, economic and natural. Each one is a disaster in the making ready to come and hit Greece for all she's worth. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a new writing challenge or wanting to see a particular kingdom move forward should really take a looksie and see how they can get stuck in. Buckle up, guys! All new information and a small time hop (just of a month or two) will be a part of this new global plot, so that we can recharge fresh and unhindered.
Factions: The Tempest of Set Whilst our African realm is not yet opened all information regarding the Tempest of Set has been updated and wanted ads confirmed meaning that, when it does, we'll have a ready made Faction for people to claim a part of, if they wish to.
Factions: The Sariqas Community Feedback: More IC Content/Movement The Sariqas are returning and are ready to reek havoc! Rather than post all the old wanted ads, however, this is a small and tight knit group that should really be grown organically. If anyone is interested in creating a middle-eastern originating mercenary, please get in touch with Ivy our IC Deputy. She'll be able to direct you to the appropriate place!
Future Timeline
Given our recent updates and the newest features we've put in place, plus the progress that has been made on the Compendium, we can confirm the following dates:
Today - 24th September: You will likely be seeing the above mentioned edits happening around the site and server. 24th September: Staff Apps close and new Staffers announced. 3rd October Character Compendium will be completed. 11th October: Advertising for Aeipathy will open. 16th October: Halloween Event will launch. 31st October: Halloween Event will close. 1st November NaNoWriMo Event will launch.
The Staff Team
One of the changes we have undergone in the last week is a few shifts in our Staff Team line-up. This includes some leavetakings, promotions and new vacancies we are now advertising to the community. Here are the full deets:
Loreist, Dragon Community Feedback: General Confusion Our Loreist has decided to leave the staff team. His resignation was his choice and we had every hope that Dragon would continue to remain on the site as a writer. He decided that it wasn't for him, and has since departed. Unfortunately, this was unable to be entirely drama free. Whilst I never normally discuss staffer departures because it feels like talking behind someone's back, Dragon has left a lot of confusion, worry and upset in his wake so it's important to explain these basic facts. Dragon was neither told to drop his staff role, nor was he asked to leave the site. Both were his choice. After making those decisions, he remained on the server and he was not removed in the hopes that he would become a Reader and remain a part of our community even without staffing or writing. Upon discovering that he had been slandering Aeipathy to Newcomers and attempting to turn them away to other forums, the removal of his account from the Discord server was an unfortunate necessity. This was the only point in the proceedings that was undertaken without Dragon's consent and the staff team did this only after we had sent him a DM explaining why so that the server would not disappear from his list out of the blue. This message was polite and final and explained that we had no choice but to remove him from the server. If anyone has conflicting information with this, it is your choice to follow what you believe to be true. These are the facts as they stand. Despite having screenshot evidence of all of these steps of the process, I will not be sharing them as it is against the privacy of Dragon and other members to post them around. I will, however, be willing to sit down with anyone who is still concerned and talk the matter through with them in an objective manner, focused on how we can encourage new engagement and motivation in the site. Many thanks to those who have been patient through these difficulties.
Internal Moderator, Ivy Community Feedback: General Confusion On to something with more cheer - the wonderful Ivy is back on our server! A few weeks ago, Ivy was forced to take a short break, concerned for the health of a family member. Our prayers and good thoughts were with her in this time and I am happy to report that she now feels in a position to return to the server and her role on the Staff Team. This is wonderful news both for Aeipathy and for Ivy and her loved ones. I understand that the reappointment of Ivy's staffer role was confusing to some. My apologies for this uncertainty. As I was not active on the server whilst Ivy had to take her time away, I was not aware that everyone believed she had left permanently. This was never the case. Had I been aware that this was the general consensus, I would have explained the sudden allocating of a staffer role (apparently) willy-nilly. I'm glad to say, however, that this is not how our staff team operate. We go through channels, plans and talks when it comes to our Staff Team (as you'll see below) and from our perspective, Ivy was simply being reallocated what was always hers. We hope this explains things.
Co-Deputies Staffer Request At the behest of the staff team who have been doing an amazing job at keeping Aeipathy running over these past weeks, two Co-Deputy's have been assigned to the staff team. These guys are in charge of Aeipathy as and when I am away or unavailable (which hopefully should not be happening any time in the future) but they are also a port of call for escalated issues, event ideas or larger-site planning, so that not everything rests at my doorstep. This should make things happen smoother, faster, with no bottle-neck and no waiting on the GMT timezone. XD Based on past staffer performance and suitability for the role, Athene and the newly returned Ivy (now that her personal difficulties have passed) have been chosen for these roles. Each comes with their own skills, traits and time to dedicate to the roles and help to give the Staff Team more security and confidence when operating across the server and site. Please help me in welcoming Ivy and Athene to their new posts!
Staffer Handbook Staffer Request To encourage this feeling of authonomy away from myself, this week has also seen the birth of a Staffer Handbook. This is a long (a very long XD) document listing every single task I perform (when present) to keep Aeipathy running. This includes internal tasks, community duties and the process of advertising (yes, I'm getting to that! XD). This means that our staff team can operate outside of any authority from myself, with clear instructions on the 'how' and that our staff team can grow as our community does without excessive training or steep learning curves. In truth, this handbook is currently only partially finished (it's a very long document!!) but as I complete the instructions for each task, you'll see new features, games, events and general activity being announced by our staff team. So, keep a watchful eye and get ready to have some old school Aeipathy fun!
New Staffer Server For those who don't know, the Staff Team on Aeipathy have a server dedicated to the staff team only. This is not in order for us to find a quiet space to sip martinis and grumble but a hub of tools and resources so that our Staff Team have access to Mentor information, who is roleplaying who, any disputes or mediation issues that need to be handled, game and event ideas etc etc. We keep them on a separate server to save having a dozen hidden channels on the main server. Our scrolling fingers get tired! XD This week, with the new Staffer Handbook and in an effort for even more transparency between the staffers, we have built a new server with very specific record-keeping features and project details so that all Staffers will be informed of all Staff Team matters in the future. There will be no miscommunication, accidental-ignorance or different staffers being kept out of the loop at different times because of timezones or personal schedules. This will allow everyone to be informed, no matter their routine.
New Staff Vacancies Staffer Request As promised above, we have several new staffer positions now open. We are looking for:
The TownCryer - Advertising Moderator Duties included but not limited to: bumping daily advertisements on other forums, replying to Seeking messages on resource sites, managing Aeipathy's entries into off-site contests. Skills Required: The availability to do a little every single day instead of a lot in one go. Non-combative and friendly manner of communication. The ability to perform the same task over and over and find it cathartic rather than boring.
The Hearsay - Current Plot/Gossip Moderator Duties included but not limited to: boosting motivation and plotlines across the server. Match-making characters and plots. Keeping the community update with Gossip Blasts across our servers plotting pages. Skills Required: Endless enthusiasm (or the ability to fake it ^_^). And interest in reading up on other people's threads that you are not a part of. Good memory of the plotlines happening all over the site.
The Curator - Pinterest Moderator Duties included but not limited to: The organisation of our Pinterest page. Regular updates when characters are added or removed. The running of Pinterest Contests bi-monthly. Skills Required; OCD-level attention to detail. A knowledge/love of Pinterest. Basic graphics skills.
Mentors Duties included but not limited to: Welcoming newcomers to the server. DMing them and building a personal relationship with new members. Making regular reports on progress of helping those members to our Head Mentor. Skills Required: Friendly demeanour. Endless patience for repeated questions and offered resources. Objective ability to suggest characters based on newcomer preference, not existing member preference.
If you are interested in volunteering for any of the above roles, please DM me (JD) directly.
